Ishmael has perceived important similarities between his enforced captivity and our modern way of living, which has isolated us from the realities of existence for so long that we have forgotten who we are and how we got here. Ishmael was captured as an infant and sold, first to a zoo and later to a menagerie from which he was rescued by a wealthy Jewish benefactor who freed him and provided for him in his will. The Ishmael of the title is a gorilla, so deftly drawn that one not only suspends one's disbelief but becomes fascinated by him. Quinn comprehends his subject, and his intelligence and originality. However, what distinguishes the book is the degree to which Mr. After all, most of us know the basic facts presented here: that our species, with our heedless development and runaway population, is threatening the capacity of the earth to recover from our ravages. And without the award, it could well have passed unnoticed. Like many aspects of the natural world that it seeks to explore, 'Ishmael' is inconspicuous. Now, with the publication of the novel, readers can judge its merits for themselves. Turner Publishing, which sponsored the competition, disagreed. 'Under no circumstances did we want to give this huge sum to any single book,' said William Styron, one of several judges proposing that a reduced award be divided among four finalists. The size of the award seems to have been part of the problem. The monetary award, which was intended to encourage 'fiction that produces creative and positive solutions to global problems,' was granted, however, under protest by some of the judges. Hence it was particularly gratifying that 'Ishmael,' a thoughtful, fearlessly low-key novel about the role of our species on the planet, won the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship last June, with a prize of half a million dollars for its author, a poet and freelance writer named Daniel Quinn. REFLECTIONS on the natural world are rarely rewarded with large sums of money.

Ismael quinn